1st XI @ Strauch Reserve
Sandhurst faced the new season with a handful of new faces in the first XI including Andrew Sheehan, Quinton Bentley, Brenton Jones and Garth Tamblyn all making their 1st XI debut for the club in their first game. Huntly won the toss and batted in good batting conditions but were soon on the back foot as Tim Robertson struck in the 2nd over of the day caught by Brenton Jones with the score on 9. Whilst conditions were conducive to quick runs, the loss of the 2nd wicket in the 5th over, Andy Sheehan’s first for the Dragons, caught by Westy, sparked a collapse for Huntly North as they lost 3 for 1 to be reeling at 4 for 29 after 10.
Whilst Huntly steadied to some degree they were unable to get on top of a Sandhurst bowling attack which used 7 bowlers in all as Mark Keck 1/13 from 9 overs and Anthony West 1/12 continued the pressure that had been applied by the opening bowlers. Missed opportunities in the field meant things could have, and should have been even better for the Dragons as Huntly was eventually dismissed for 107 in the 43rd over. Tim Robertson 4 for 9 off 7.2 overs and Andy Sheehan 2 for 25 off nine the multiple wicket takers.
Sandhurst thought South Paw’s could get the job done at the top of the order as Mark Holland and Simon Turnbull opened the innings and contributed a valuable 40 run opening stand before “Tippa” fell in the 11th over. Mark Holland continued his aggressive stroke play and was pushing towards a half century before he was well caught in the outfield for 39 from 43 balls by Joel Logan with the score on 68. From there Nick Scullie and Brenton Jones gained some valuable time in the middle as they both compiled unbeaten twenty’s to see Sandhurst home by 8 wickets in the 26th over with 2 for 112.
Tim Robertson claimed Man of the Match honors with a devastating spell of 4 for 9.
2nd XI @ Weeroona Oval
The 2nds kicked off their campaign at home at Weeroona Oval in a repeat of one of the more entertaining 2nd XI matches for the season last year. The game was being played on one of the best pitches in Bendigo, given the preparation time that had been put into the wicket. The pitch looked an absolute batsmen’s paradise. Trumpy lost the toss and Sandhurst would be bowling first. Craig “Chooka” Burn and Trumpy took the new ball and immediately placed the clamps on a cautious opening Huntly North Bendigo pair. Whilst keeping it tight, what few chances were created were spurned by poor catching from the infielders. Still Chooka and Trumpy pushed on each completing an opening spell of 6 overs with the score on just 12 from 12 overs.
A change in bowling bought an increase in the run rate, as the Huntly pair begun to get their eyes in. A poor last couple of overs leading into the drinks break drew an angry response from skipper Trump who urged his team to lift their work rate and vocal contributions on the field as 0/50 at the half way stage was far from a dominant position for the Huntly North side.
The breakthrough finally came shortly after the drinks break, with Clinton “Beefy” Botham claiming the breakthrough caught by Brock Fletcher inside the 30m circle. Clinton Botham continued to work and was again rewarded when he removed opening batsmen and skipper Kevin Derix with the score on 68 in the 31st over. Spinner Dylan Gibson was finally rewarded for a tidy spell of bowling in his 7th over bowling Howard Newman with the total on 77. Whilst the Dragons had worked hard up until that point, so many wickets in hand meant that Huntly could swing freely in the final ten overs and picked up 0/70 in “happy hour” to finish with a reasonable 3./146 from 45 overs. Clinton Botham 2/25 and Dylan Gibson 1/24 the wicket takers. Craig Burn was particularly unlucky finishing with 0/19 from his 9 overs.
Sandhurst’s regular 2nd XI opening pair Travis Crouch and Dylan Gibson looked to be positive from the outside requiring just over 3 an over on a good wicket and quick outfield. Unfortunately tragedy struck in just the 3rd over when Dylan was run out by a direct hit with the score on 8. Enter Brock Fletcher who played a fantastic supporting role, whilst Crouchy took the bowlers apart with ease at the other end. The ball found the fence regularly, and Crouchy and Brock had the situation well in hand from early on breaking the opposition in the field.when Crouchy bought up his 50 in very quick time as the pair moved the score to 1 for 96 at drinks.
Unfortunately Crouchy couldn’t quite see us across the line as he feel to a well taken catch for 66 from just 69 balls with 11 boundaries ending a 107 run partnership. This was the catalyst for Brock Fletcher to unleash, as he effortlessly lofted a couple of Huntly bowlers onto and beyond the pavilion and dressing room shed. Brock bought up his 50 and continued on completing the victory with another boundary in the 32nd over as Brock finished unbeaten on 69 with five 6’s and four 4’s.
Brock Fletcher was awarded Man of the match for seeing the side through to victory having come in at 1 for 8.
3rd XI @ Strauch Reserve Huntly
After the kick-off to the 2008/09 season was delayed by a week in order to give more time to prepare some of the pitches in the region the season eventually got under way with round 1 reverting to a one day game. The curtain raiser got off to a good start with skipper Dean Trew winning the toss and batting. Dean Trew and Keith Cloke made a positive start on a good batting track with Keith Cloke in particular showing good form first up dominating the strike and scoring in early proceedings.
In the shortened 30 over a side format of the game a good start was very important at the Dragons cruised to 0/48 off 10. The scoring then slowed leading into the drinks break with the Hurst 0/57 from 15. Trewy in particular then took advantage of the solid start and looked to go on the attack with the pair bringing up their 100 run partnership in the 22nd over. Trewy fell shortly after for a well compiled 43 from 49 balls with the score on 104.
The rest of the innings was a frenetic search for quick runs with little time for batsmen to get their eyes in. Leigh Draper (14 from 10 balls) got a start before the mainstay of the innings Keith Cloke in one of his best knocks with the bat for some time fell for 36. Matt Felini (19no) playing his first game for 18 months along with Bryden Mcfarlane played well and just as importantly ran hard between the wickets applying plenty of pressure to the opposition fielders. The innings ended with debutant Dale Warren skying a catch to the infield for an unfortunate first ball duck as a dragon as Sandhurst finished with a handy 5/152 from 30 overs.
If Sandhurst appeared light on for batsmen, they were laden with a plethora of bowling options as “Dangerous” Dave Hunter and new boy Dale Warren took the new ball. Huntly made a solid start before the pressure told and Bryden Mcfarlane took advantage of a mishap in the running between wickets with a direct hit run-out. Dale Warren then chimed in with his first wicket as a dragon when he had sam Pellegreno bowled with the score on 37 in the 10th over. “Rabbits” wasn’t finished there as he picked up the experienced Gary Skeen bowled 3rd ball for a duck sparking a middle order collapse.
The end result was the loss of 5 for 13 in 9 overs with Dale Warren 3/14 off 6) and Matt Felini 2/10 off 6 the destroyers. It was left for Courtney Cornell to chime in with 2 more wickets (2/13) and Josh Ennis 1 as Huntly never looked a realistic chance of reeling in the target against a disciplined bowling attack well backed up in the field as Huntly finished 9/96 from their 30 overs.
One example late in the game stood out to those watching from the sidelines, with the result beyond doubt, it was skipper Dean Trew who chased what appeared a lost cause 50 metres to the fence throwing himself with one last gasp to try and save a boundary to the amazement of those watching, whilst not being rewarded for his effort, it surely set the standard for all players in the team to follow in the field for the remainder of the season.
With the win, Sandhurst picked up 6 points that they missed out on last season, and in a close call with 3 top order wickets Dale Warren received Man of the Match on debut.
Next week sees the side play Eaglehawk who will be hungry to register their first win for the season in each grade, whilst Sandhurst will look to build on a perfect 3 wins in 3 senior grades in round 1.